Question about fair catch

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by DJ_NV

The better way to state this is that the protection afforded to R under the fair catch rules are no longer applicable once the ball touches the ground.

The rule is 6-5-6 (in NF) and the key words are "in flight", which is defined 2-1-3 as a ball that has not touched the ground. Therefore, you can infer that if that ball has touched the ground, then 6-5-6 (and its association protection of R) do not apply.

Also note that the KCI restrictions are also no longer valid if R touches (think muffs) the ball, even though it hasn't touched the ground.

My understanding then is R1 (giving a valid fair catch signal) can not block until the kick has ended (usually when the ball is dead except for Bob M's great example), but he loses his protection as soon as the ball hits the ground. If that's correct, he best get out of the way because he can only get himself in trouble.